Bassist Composer

Bass Player, December 1999

Stephen Jay

When Weirdness Isn't Enough

Stephen Jay loves playing bass for parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic,
an occupation he's had since 1981. As a member of Al's full-time
band, he's appeared on all nine of the Weird One's albums, the
latest being Running with Scissors [Volcano]. But the gig is
only part of his busy professional life. When he's not on the road
with Yankovic, Stephen can be found in his Southern California
studio composing scores for feature films, PBS shows, industrial
videos, commercials, and public service announcements. He's also
done extensive session work, released three solo records on his own
Ayarou label, and produced two albums for the WEA Nonesuch Explorer
series using his field recordings of traditional West African
music.

A native Floridian, Stephen graduated from the University of
South Florida in 1972, earning a Master's degree in composition. He
then took off for Niger, where for two-and-a-half years he studied
drumming with hereditary musicians called griots. Weakened by
malaria and intestinal parasites, he eventually had to return to the
States. Following a failed Frank Zappa audition Stephen relocated to
Los Angeles and hooked up with Weird Al. He continued to travel,
studying folk music and collecting wind, string, and percussion
instruments from Asia and the South Pacific.

Jay developed his prodigious bass technique simply because
playing is so much fun. "My main way to practice is to compose. If
music is like architecture, then bass and drums are the foundation,
the perfect place to start. Being a bassist lets me understand as a
composer how things go from the beginning, as opposed to starting
with chords and a melody and adding a bass part as
accompaniment.

"On the other hand, being a composer makes me try to innovate as
a bassist. One thing that hasn't been done much is to use the bass
as a rhythmic exoskeleton that surrounds the music rather than
sustaining it like a spine. In my own work I like to jump from
being the spine to having a much more active part, almost like a
bluegrass line. In a lot of my tunes you can hear the bass go to the
music's perimeters without focusing itself on one melodic part. I'll
give it a lot of melodic parts built into a complex funk
arrangement. I sometimes try to create funk grooves based on African
polyrhythms, where you can feel the three against the four back
there, giving a nice triangulation effect on the syncopation."

Stephen has also developed what he calls the Theory of Harmonic
Rhythm, in which he posits that harmony may be converted into rhythm
and vice versa. He believes this theory may help composers line up
rhythmic and harmonic intervals to produce more cohesive and
symmetrical music.

Stephen's main instrument is a custom Alembic 4-string similar to
the Stanley Clarke Signature Deluxe; he also owns basses by Ken
Smith, Fender, Guild, Warwick, and Martin. With a 30e" scale, the
ziricote-wood Alembic has an extremely narrow neck. Stephen's
effects are a Korg AX40B Toneworks floor unit and an Alembic SF-2
Superfilter. For amplification he runs a MESA/Boogie D-180 head into
a MESA/Boogie 2x15B cab. He considers correct volume the key to good
tone, so he monitors with a MESA/Boogie Wedge 2x10B powered by an
Alesis R-100 stereo power amp.

Why doesn't a critically acclaimed composer/multi-instrumentalist
balk at providing note-for-note copies of pop songs for someone
called "Weird Al"? "With Al, we don't take the music as a joke.
When he's doing his funny lyrics, I don't even hear it. We're
delivering notes from these genius composers who have written these
hits that we parody?it's just a fantastic position to be in as a
musician. I take it as seriously as I do my own music. The interval
between the band's super-serious attitude and Al's crazy antics is
what gives it tension and makes it so entertaining and successful.
Anyway, I'm a firm believer that music is for people. Without an
audience it doesn't mean much."